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Question Unity Mars Image Tracking - I'm having issues with image detection on glossy paper.

Discussion in 'Unity MARS' started by Aquagnomie, Mar 1, 2023.

  1. Aquagnomie

    Aquagnomie

    Joined:
    May 18, 2022
    Posts:
    2
    Hello,
    I'm having some issues with MARS Image Tracking when looking at a target that is on a glossy page. I've previously used AR Foundation for Image Tracking and not had any issues with it while using camera to detect Images that are on glossy pages. Since transitioning over to MARS a while ago, I've had stability issues with the camera detecting images on a glossy page. Images can be detected fine on a computer screen or with a target on paper with no gloss, but it seems to have trouble when glare or reflection is involved.

    I've looked on these forums over time and I haven't found anything similar, but perhaps I've missed something, and if I have I apologize for creating a duplicate question!

    Is there currently a solution for this or perhaps something I've missed that can correct this?

    Thank you
     
    Aquagnomie, Mar 1, 2023
    #1

  2. Blinxel_AR

    Blinxel_AR

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2015
    Posts:
    67
    This is a classic problem. We even made a report on it about 12 years ago when first started doing AR.
    My guess is it's your lighting. Glossy surfaces will glare out when there's lights that bounce off the surface and create a large glare spot on the page that is brighter than the image being tracked.
    I'd strongly urge you to choose less glossy paper. If that's not possible, adjust the lighting in the space you've placed the marker.
     
    Blinxel_AR, Mar 1, 2023
    #2
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  3. mtschoen

    mtschoen

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2016
    Posts:
    194
    Yep! Unfortunately this (shiny things) is a limitation with computer vision in general. You'll probably find the same thing happens with shiny tables not getting picked up by plane finding and meshing. However, if you are sure that an app built with AR Foundation can reliably track the same image in the same lighting conditions, it could well be an issue on our end. Perhaps the platform is reporting a certain level of confidence that our query logic doesn't respect. Could you try and capture a video of the behavior in an AR Foundation app side-by-side with what you're seeing in your MARS app?

    Suffice it to say--we've done testing with image markers and haven't found any differences between MARS and AR Foundation on our end, but it may be possible to replicate your scenario if we can see what's going on. It is also possible that there is something specific to your project/setup which is causing your content to fail to appear or track reliably if the image is lost and then found again. If you are confident that the issue is with MARS and not circumstantial, please submit a bug report with your project attached so we can take a look.
     
    mtschoen, Mar 3, 2023
    #3
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  4. Aquagnomie

    Aquagnomie

    Joined:
    May 18, 2022
    Posts:
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    Thank you Blinxel_AR and mtschoen for giving supporting details on this, apologies for the delay. I will see if I have the files for the AR Foundation project that I was using a year and a half ago and see if I can get it to work. I might have screenshots of the behavior on glossy pages at the time using AR Foundation compared to screenshots I have of my current project with MARS, would that help?
    While using AR Foundation previously I wouldn't have a huge problem with Image Tracking while there was glare on the glossy page. It is worth noting that the whole page would not be covered with a glare, just parts of the image however it always seemed to be able to recognize other bits of the image and instantiate the object. With MARS however there definitely is a noticeable difference detecting the Target images.
    Thank you for your responses, I will see what I can find for some comparisons.
     
    Aquagnomie, Mar 23, 2023
    #4